The story of Talion the Caragor
by Chrisoman
Summary: Instead of being cursed with undeath, Talion is turned instead into a beast. With the Black Captains gone and their plans foiled , he now has to make a new life for himself in the land he once held off against. But as he faces the wilds of Mordor, will he find himself allies to stand with, or will he try to survive this hostile land on his own? (in collaboration with editedcopycat)
1. The story of Talion the Caragor I

**The story of Talion the Caragor I**

Long ago, a great war raged all across Middle Earth. It lasted for ages until Sauron was defeated and the free races could finally enjoy an era of peace. Time had passed since then, until one day, an assault at the black gate caught the forces stationed there off guard, the only outpost on land that stood between both Gondor and Mordor.

It was at this time that a ranger called Talion was stationed there. Many uruks and orcs swarmed towards the black gate, killing one soldier after another without any mercy as some of Sauron's most dangerous servants, the Black Captains, finally revealed themselves. They quickly seized the gate, sacrificing both of his family and remaining kin in effort to try and summon a powerful spirit, only to end in vain to their frustration. Enraged, they turned their gaze to the remaining captive ranger. Unfortunately for Talion, he wasn't killed, no... he was cursed. Ensuring that their nefarious deed would be remembered, they cast their foul magic on him, altering his form to that of a beast.

He wakes up to find himself alone with what remains of the black gate. Everything hurts all over his body, and he finds it hard to breathe from the shock. Rain continued to pour down on him as he starts to run away from the now ruined outpost. His heart pounding in his chest. Ringing in his ears. Menacing red eyes looking back at him…

 _"In the end you will see that the only thing you can do is pick at the bones of your doomed kings."_

Talion snarled then, the haunting words still echoing in his mind as anger rose deep from his core. Anger pointing at the damned uruks that attacked him and his kin. At the Black Captains murdering his family -

Anger at himself for not being able to stop them…

He slipped on the wet ground and tumbled, rolling a foot or two forward before slumping against the earth, muzzle in the mud. After managing to detangle his unfamiliar limbs, Talion got himself back on his feet and continued to wander again, walking this time.

Looking down at the ground as he walked, Talion watched as one paw move in front of the other, until he slowed down to a halt. He left his sword behind. It would have been useless in the state he was in anyhow. The clouds rumbled above him as his chest tightened painfully. He no longer had any kin to stand with, no family to nurture and protect, and was terribly far away from his homeland. He was completely alone.

Days had passed since then. During that time, Talion had been wandering across the wilds of Mordor, mostly trying to avoid the many uruks that roamed the land as he adjusted to his new body and life. He didn't pay mind as time passed until he ends up within a desolate forest. Looking around, it seemed like a decent place to rest and it was a welcome change to see that he could use the trees and bushes as a shelter somewhat.

The sound of footsteps caught his attention as he heard something grumbled nearby. Creeping past the trees, he spotted a small group of uruks and from the looks of it, they appear to be a hunting party. Talion growled. He should have expected this, uruks roamed all over Mordor these days. Regardless, he knew he couldn't avoid them any longer. It was hard enough to hunt with them around as it is.

' _Might as well test myself against them. I need all the skills I have if I want to survive out here.'_ Talion mused to himself as he sneaks into a bush nearby the group of hunters. Just as one of the uruks passed by his hiding spot, he pounced at his prey, biting hard on his neck. As the uruk chokes on his own blood before going limp, all the others cry out in surprise. Taking the opportunity to attack, he darts at the next uruk as some of the others start running away. Talion swipes his paw at the shocked hunter, clawing at his body until it's nothing more than a bloody mess. One uruk after another, he cuts them down as their screams fill the air.

"Damn cowards…" Hearing a voice from behind, Talion turns around to see a hooded uruk treading closer to him. He glares back at him, keeping his distance as they start to circle each other. "Hm… seems a bit different from the other caragors... Ha, you'd make a fine trophy for sure." The uruk mused as he stepped closer to Talion. He takes out his spear, ready to strike it at the beast. Talion dodges as he tries to claw and bite at his enemy but to no avail. The uruk continues to evade his attacks with every strike. Readying his spear, the uruk sticks it through the paw mid-strike before yanking it out and plunging his spear deep in the caragor's shoulder.

Talion howls out in pain as his body slumps to the ground, struggling to get back up but staggers back to the dirt as pain pulses through his front leg. Feeling the head of the spear at his snout, he sighs. He knows when he's beat, he gave it his all and it wasn't enough. He was going to die here alone and forgotten while the Black Captains were going to continue to run amok all over Mordor. The only small comfort he had was at least now he can reunite with his kin and family in death.

Nakra grinned in triumph as he stood before the defeated caragor. Out of all the uruks that tried to face it or ran away from terror, only he survived and succeeded in bringing the beast down, and will be greatly rewarded for his deed. As he gazed at the caragor before him, he was surprised to see not fear, but a great sorrow held within its eyes. It turned its head away slightly, almost like it was accepting its impending end.

He pauses a moment as he kneels down. Looking over the caragor as it is now, he did have to admit that it was sort of odd seeing it there. Not in the way that it was uncommon to see caragors in this part of Mordor, no, it was actually very common to see them roam either alone or travel in packs. But he couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something rather different about this one.

And now that he had a closer look at it, it seemed rather… thin? Like it hadn't been eating in a while, at least from how the beast's ribs seemed to show ever so slightly on its side. The caragor only glanced back at him for a moment as he pondered. It acted rather strange as well now that he thought about it. From what he knew about caragors, they were supposed to be one of the most violent beasts around, and were known to be especially dangerous when either hungry or fighting to the death. _'But-'_ he thought for a moment, _'…what if it never lived out in the wild?'_ but the idea seemed foolish. No one… at least not yet, had successfully tamed such creatures, let alone breed them. And looking at the beast again, he did find any scars that indicated that it was ever taken in by any uruk. So, it was unlikely for its current behavior.

But, maybe, it was kicked out of a pack? Or was unable to find a mate? The caragor turned to him once more, its gaze locking with his own. Nakra knew he could easily slay the beast as it was, but somehow it felt wrong to kill it now that it was no longer fighting back. _'…But maybe…'_ he pondered, raising a hand slowly and reached out to the caragor's head, resting it there on its brow for a moment. It didn't do anything but look back at him with a baffling gaze. He chuckled then, his mind made up. _'Better to keep you as a pet than another trophy anyway. Can even turn a few heads as well!'_

As a sign of mercy, Nakra brings him home into the fortress, throws Talion into a cage and nurses him up. The Cage was right in the front of his house so he can always look at how successful he is. But sometimes other uruks come over to the caragor and bug him. They take sticks and stab him or throw stones at him. Every time Nakra looks out of his window and sees how they shame that great creature he gets more and more aggressive. It's almost like Nakra feels compassion. After some time, Nakra always comes out at night and keeps company with Talion. He nurses him up, when they hurt him and pets him to make him feel better. He already thought about freeing the caragor, but he know that he wouldn't be safe out there. So he started building a little house, far out in the nowhere. He wanted to live there together with the caragor and some fellow orcs who are always on his side.

Only after a few days Nakra hears a voice shouting from outside.

„OI THERE NAKRA! YA GOT A PRETTY NICE MEAL OUT HERE... HOW ABOUT I TAKE ITS HEAD AS A TROPHY HOME?!"

"He's mine and if you want to harm him I will kill you... you remember the last one who wanted to kill me? He wasn't even able to survive a single strike of me!"

With these words it was decided. Nakra will fight for a caragors life. He would have never expected that. He was born and raised as a hunter, he thought nothing could change that.

Just a few minutes later, Nakra and his opponent are standing in the pit, looking at each other. Nakra with his friends in the back and his opponent all alone.

"Come on now... w-we don't have to fight... please... I will never try to harm your caragor again..."

"Oh... looks like they showed you the rest of my last enemy... well... it's too late for you..."

Slowly Nakras opponent walks to up to him and tries to hit him. Easily Nakra dodges it but he won't attack. He wants to let him feel safe, just to see the look in his eyes when the uruks blood spills out of his body and fills the arena with it.

Once more the uruk tries to hit Nakra, but without success.

"Slowly I'm getting bored... give your best or I will stop acting so nice!"

"I already give my best!"

"Oh... really? If it's like that I have something for you!"

Nakra dodges another attack and pierces his spear right through his whole knee. The uruk falls down on the ground and Nakra pulls out his spear out of his knee again.

"How does it feel? Do you fear me? Because I think you don't... and I think that's a problem... do you want to be a problem of mine?"

"P-please... no... you don't have to do this... I will go wherever you want!"

"I know somewhere you can go to..."

Nakra takes his spear, pierces it through the throat of the uruk and rips his entire head off. He picks up the head, turns around to the shocked audience and screams "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO TRY TO HARM ME OR MY CARAGOR! WHO WANT TO JOIN HIM? NOW'S YOUR CHANCE!"

It gets quiet and a few uruks are slowly going away, like they've never done anything

"I KNOW WHAT YOU ALL HAVE DONE TO HIM… AND I WILL SHOW MERCY... THIS TIME..."


	2. The story of Talion the Caragor II

**The story of Talion the Caragor II**

Nakra opens the cage of Talion and leads him with a piece of flesh out on the street.

"Come over here li'l caragor… we have to go…"

First Talion looks confused at Nakra but than steps out of his cage. The other uruks are just looking at Talion and Nakra, who walk side by side down the street. Some uruks are whispering "I bet this beast will kill him when he sleeps.", "It's impossible to tame a caragor", "Shouldn't we go away a 'bit more... no one knows when this beast gets aggressive". Nakra kneels and look the caragor into the eyes "Don't listen to them, you aren't a murderous beast...". He puts his hand on the neck of the caragor and leads him out of the fortress onto a little road, that leads them southeast.

After a short amount of time they arrive in a nearby town. Everyone hides as they see the caragor and Nakra walking down the road. Nakra takes a small rope, ties the one end around the caragors neck and the other end on a little pole nearby a small tavern.

He walks into the tavern and immediately hears a voice shouting at him

"Hey, you! Yeah... you are the one who owns this caragor, right?"

"Yes I do... I would like to buy one mug of grog and a water bowl."

"Well, we don't serve food to someone like you... but... we can do other things with you..."

The bartender pulls out a sword and jumps over the counter, but before he can even touch the ground Nakra pulls out a spear and rips it through his head. As the body drops to the floor Nakra looks at the guests of the tavern and all of them are pulling out their weapons. He runs out of the building, pulls out a small knife and cuts through the little rope. Talion could run away, but he doesn't. Instead he kneels and looks at Nakra.

"What are you waiting for? RUN!"

The caragor keeps looking at Nakra

"Do-... do you want me to ride you?"

The caragor nods.

Nakra jumps on the back of Talion and the caragor immediately jumps up and starts running as fast as he can. As Nakra looks back he just sees how the other uruks throw stones after them.

After some time following the road, they find a little shack. It looks empty and it already gets dark so Nakra and Talion have to stay there until the next morning. Nakra walks around the little shack to make sure it's safe and he finds a campfire. It is still hot so it had to be on fire just a few minutes ago. He walks around the fireplace and searches for anything that could give him a hint of who was here.

He finds something in a bush very close to the campfire, it was a small caragor puppy, trapped in a bear trap. He slowly walks up to the puppy and pats him soothing on the head "All will be fine again, you don't have to worry..." he carefully tries to open the bear trap while the little caragor is whining in fear and pain. Prying the trap open, he gathers the wounded pup into his arms before heading back inside the shack.

As Nakra opens the door, Talion jumps up and walks up to him and the wounded caragor. Nakra immediately searches in his bags with the hope of finding some bandages to stop the bleeding. Luckily he still has a little box in his bag with some medical supplies and caragor food. He bandages the caragor puppy and gives him the food to recover some strength, who knows how long the puppy was already trapped.

He pulls out a small blanket of his backpack and puts it in a corner corner. Both caragors lay down on the blanket and Nakra sits down by the side of them as he notices that he haven't given any of them a name yet.

 _"Hmm... the puppy_ _seems_ _pretty lazy, and just lays around the whole time... like a beanbag... how about... Bubby... yeah, that's a good name... but how should I call the big one... he helps me and is, compared to other caragors,_ _rather nice_ _..._ _like_ _Talion_ _, the one human that fought till his last breath for the good and he also always helped everyone_ _..."_

As it gets darker the little group already made themselves comfortable. While everyone tries to sleep, Nakra wakes up over and over again, he just can't stop thinking about who could have ignited the campfire. Just a few moments later he hears how someone walks outside of the shack "I am sure that I left the trap somewhere around here..." grumbles a voice. Nakra takes his spear and slowly walks to the door "... The trap can't just be gone...". Slowly Nakra opens the door and peaks out of it. He is able to see how a small, human looking creature walks through the bushes "OUCH! … I found the trap..." screams the small person as he steps into his own trap. "That's not the way you should find a trap, small human!" Nakra says. The person turns around, looks at Nakra and says

"I'm not a small human you fool! I'm Torvin the hunter! I'm one of the most famous dwarves in middle-earth."

Nakra walks up to the dwarf, who is struggling at getting out of his own trap.

"Oh, now what? You want to attack a not armed person? Shame on you!"

Nakra bends over and opens the trap.

"Here you go, little human"

"I already told you, I'm not a little human!"

"Yeah, however. Why are you here?"

"I'm... huh, a very good hunter and I don't want to sound selfish, but I'm the best you can find."

"Sure... that's why you walked into your own trap..."

"Uhm... t-t-that was part of my plan to get you out of the shack!"

"Urgh, I have some medical supplies... you want some or are you also the master of surviving in the wild so you can easily make your own medicine out of some plants?"

"Well, for sure I could but... I am lazy. Even though you are an uruk, if you really wanted to kill me, I think you would've done it when I was still stuck in that bear trap. "

Both walk back to the little shack and make a crappy seat out of his bags.

"So, uruk... what are you doing all alone out here? And why do you have so much food just laying in the corner?"

"First of all, the caragors aren't food! Second thing, I had to leave my home because it wasn't save for Talion anymore."

"So they aren't food, eh... but what could be their use? Why do you keep them?"

"There's something special about Talion and the little Bubby got trapped in your bear trap and I can't just let him die... why are you even interested in that?"

"I'm just curious why someone like you is out here… and why he has caragors as pets."

"We are in mordor... I should ask why someone like youare out here..."

"That's... a long story... let's talk about that some other time."

"Some other time?"

"Yes, I can't let someone like you travel alone. You would die faster than I could kill a bunny!"

"Well, if I die so slow that isn't a problem."

"Haha, really funny..."

"However, we should go to bed now, we have a lot to do tomorrow!"

Nakra goes back in the corner, where the two caragors are sleeping, and lays down at the side of Talion while Torvin stares at them _"_ _What_ _a weird_ _uruk..."._


End file.
